


Part Of You Lives In Me

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Family Secrets, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 16:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17604851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: Sherry and Jake notice their daughter has been disappearing more and more often. Their son, and her closest friend, has no idea what's up with her.Sherry thinks she knows, however, and Jake just won't understand.





	Part Of You Lives In Me

Over the years, they've developed something of an unspoken language. Between running from BOWs and raising two wily children, they've had to. 

Sitting at the table now, Michael to their left and Diana to their right, they look at each other and pass across a silent concern. 

Michael was a small boy, grown into a short and slender young man. He takes after his mother is almost every regard. Diana, however, is her father's daughter. She's got her father's flaming red hair, loosely braided down her back, his sharp blue eyes and his clean-cut features. She's lean, but strong. She'd loved gymnastics as a child and Jake had been more than enthusiastic to go with her and help her train. She finds a catharsis in athleticism that her brother doesn't - the young man more comfortable with numbers and science. She dresses like Jake too, black and combat ready, even in high school. She has pale freckles on her shoulders, but none on her face and it just lends to the severity of her icy gaze. But their little girl is extremely compassionate, selfless and protective. She stood up to Michael's bullies and got suspended more than once for picking fights to protect other kids. 

Tonight, as has been the pattern for the last few months, Diana's silent. She eats what she's given and quietly helps clean, then vanishes to her room to escape out her window and go who-knows-where. 

Michael gives them a concerned look, staring sadly at the sister who won't meet his gaze. Usually, the two of them can't shut up. Diana's new work as a BSAA scout left her with no end of stories, and she loved to tell Michael about them. She's quiet and withdrawn now, puzzling something out. 

Jake looks across the table at her again, more and more concerned than angry. She shrugs in return, but she thinks she knows what this is. She found all she needed to last time she tidied her daughter's room. 

She signals for Jake and Michael to handle the dishes and Jake minutely nods acknowledgement. (Back in the beginning, she'd been afraid he'd be too macho to do housework. She should have known better - Jake had taken care of his mother and himself since he was little. He was grateful to be able to share the load rather than try to shirk it.)

Diana, when she's dismissed, slinks off to her room. 

"You've got an idea?" Jake asks. 

"I do." She says, kissing his cheek. "Let me handle it?"

He hesitates - he wants so desperately to love and be there for his children - but nods anyway. He trusts her, even if he doesn't know what she does. 

Jake doesn't really get angry, but she knows he would about this. This is something he's not come to terms with and likely never would. That's why they're Mullers. 

She heads upstairs and gently opens Diana's door, finding her daughter sitting on her bed, fully dressed. She was ready to dash out the window, but had stalled. 

She closes the door and latches the lock. "Hey sweetheart."

"Hi mom." Diana's twenty-one, combat trained and an accomplished gymnast - she looks ten again, ready to be scolded. 

Sherry sits down next to her, small next to her own daughter, and takes a gloved hand. "I know. You can tell me."

"I don't-"

"I haven't told Jake and I'm not going to, but I'm giving you a chance to be honest with me, without judgement."

Diana hesitates, then gets up and reaches behind her standing wardrobe, pulling the Beretta 92-F from the gun holster looped around one of the drawers. The gun is one Sherry knows well, with its mock-wooden hilt, custom additions and heavy-cal mag. It's the AW-01 model, the Samurai Edge, and there was only one person she could have gotten it from. 

"I stumbled on him in Tunisia." She says, sitting back down and handing the weapon over. "A year ago."

She nods, unjudgemental, but running the numbers. 

"He recognized me, but I didn't know who he was. Just a crazy-ass out in that mess." Diana shrugs uncomfortably. "He introduced himself and I tried to kill him. I thought Redfield had done the deed. He could have killed me, but he didn't. He just dodged the bullets and gave me a cube-looking phone. Said if I was ever inclined enough to know the other half of the truth, he was willing to talk."

"What did you do?" She asks gently. 

"Nothing. I put it away in my duffel bag and didn't touch it." She took a deep breath, adjusting an errant strand of red hair. "He caught up to me in Lithuania. Saved my ass."

It clicks in Sherry's head. "When the spike thing exploded."

"Yeah." She winces, gaze fixed on her hands. "He killed the BOW and took me to a safe house he had. He took out the spines and treated the wounds. It didn't feel right to shoot him in the back after I'd been at his mercy for a day and a half."

Sherry nods, laying her hand on top of her daughter's, the gun's weight solid against her thigh. 

"I started calling him after that. Getting to know him." She grimaces. "He's who I've been going to meet. He gave me that gun when he started showing up. Said it was an heirloom I deserved to have, being a Birkin and a Wesker."

Sherry swallowed, processing, but firms her grip. 

Diana looks her in the eye for the first time in weeks. "Mom, what do I do?"

Jake wouldn't understand, but she does.

* * *

Uncle Albert was her favourite of all the white coats Daddy worked with. Mommy liked him too, seemed to relax more when Uncle Albert was around. 

He was tall and severe, cold and intimidating to the other white coats, but she didn't care. She walked right up to him, too small to be in school yet, and pulled on the leg of his pants. 

"Up!" She chirped. 

"Sherry, please-" Mommy started, but Uncle Albert cut her off. 

"No need, Annette." He bent down and scooped her up. He was stronger than Daddy, bigger too. He was warm and firm and always smelled really good. His black shirt under the white coat was soft and she liked to bury her face in it. 

"You really don't have to, Al." Daddy said. "She likes to cuddle and won't let you go once she's set."

"Is that so?" Uncle Albert seemed unphased. "Well, I am ambidextrous. I don't foresee it being an issue. It will also allow you to work more effectively, if you're not worried about your daughter."

"That's true." Daddy admitted. 

Mommy came up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Albert."

"Of course, Annette." Uncle Albert looked back down at her. "Now, dearheart, would you like to come with me?"

"Okay." She smiled, reflected back at her in those black lenses. Uncle Albert smiled back, a small but genuine thing, and adjusted her so she sat properly on his hip. He took her with him, held against him with just one arm, to the greenhouse, then to the private labs. 

"Now, dearheart, can I trust you not to touch any buttons?" He asked, sitting down in a rolling chair and sitting her on his lap, facing him. 

"Mommy and Daddy don't let me touch anything either." She replied. It wasn't so different. She just had a feeling Uncle Albert wouldn't find her such a hindrance. 

"Good girl." He pet down her hair, offering another rare smile. "If you don't know what a button does, don't touch it. Right?"

"Yup!"

"And if you do know what a button does?"

"Don't touch unless it's the door for the potty." She repeated. 

"You're very, very smart Sherry." He said and she beamed. Praise from Uncle Albert was hard to get, so she smiled extra hard and sat up straighter. 

"Thank you!"

He turned her around, tucking her in the safety of his white coat and against his chest. "I need you to watch for me, dearheart. I'm going to watch the readings, can you tell me when the liquid in the vial changes colour and what colour it changes to?"

"Yes, I can do that!" She sat forward, staring intensely at the vial. Uncle Albert chuckled deep in his chest, a sound only audible in the quiet of the private labs. 

"What a good girl." He wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her from shuffling off his lap in an effort to see harder. "We'll begin the test now."

 

 | | | 

 

It didn't take her long to begin to ignore her parents when she was down in the labs for Uncle Albert. He even came home with them for dinner, sometimes, and would let her ride in his sleek black car with him. In the front seat, too! 

It was in the labs that she seen him dressed as a cop for the first time, with that gun in his holster. 

"Woah!" She ran right up to him, wanting to touch but knowing she wouldn't be welcome right now. "You look so cool."

"Thank you, dearheart. I'm afraid this visit is only cursory. I can't stay to speak with you."

"That's okay." She smiled. He stroked her hair on his way out. 

A week later, Mommy gave her to him as soon as they got in the lab. 

"I can't think with her there." Mommy said, sounding tired. 

"I'll take her." Uncle Albert lead her away immediately, taking her into the engineering wing. 

"I've never been here before."

"I actually have a task for you, dearheart." He said, picking her up and setting her down in front of a console. He pulled up a chair next to her, pressing some buttons and pulling up what looked like a rudimentary game system. "I want you to play this." 

He explained the buttons and dials to her, then sat back and watched her play. She was entranced for the better part of seven hours, only stopping for a brief lunch. 

"That's it?" She said once the ending screen came up. 

"You're a very brilliant girl, Sherry." Uncle Albert said, pulling her up to sit her back in his lap, hugging her. 

"Thanks?"

"The pleasure is all mine, dearheart." He held her close and she just soaked up the affection. Her parents had been irritated lately and unwilling to touch her. She was more than content to stay there with him. 

 

 | | | 

 

"I've come to return Sherry."

Dad hissed and slammed a hand down on the console, making her jump and hide behind Uncle Albert. 

"What time is it?" Mommy muttered, reading a test report. 

"Ten in the evening, Annette." Uncle Albert's voice got sharper. "Sherry needs sleep."

"I can't leave now."

"William-"

"No! This isn't right! It shouldn't be mutating like this!" Daddy snapped, running a hand through his hair. 

Uncle Albert sighed through his nose tersely. He led her back out into the hall, kneeling in front of her. "Your parents are very engrossed in their work, dearheart."

She didn't bother to get upset - they never had time for her. "They always are."

Uncle Albert cupped the back of her neck, lips tight and straight. "Would you rather I drive you home or come home with me?"

She shuffled. "Can I go with you?"

"Of course, dearheart."

He picked her up, even as old as she was and as big as she was getting, and walked them to his car. The drive to his home was full of quiet warmth. He let her hold his hand the whole way home.

Inside, he made her a little snack, then got her ready for bed. He gave her one of his soft shirts to sleep in and ran her uniform through the wash. 

He came up and tucked her into bed, playing a soft musical track from the surroundsound speakers in the walls. 

"Do you need anything else, dearheart?"

She grabbed his hand. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Taking care of me."

He sighed, taking off his sunglasses for the first time in her memory. It was the first time she seen those icy eyes, pale and gleaming dangerously. "Whatever you need from me, dearheart, you have only to ask."

"They forget about me a lot." She admitted, glad to finally have someone to tell. "Can you please keep taking care of me?"

He stroked her face. "Whatever you need, whenever I can."

"Thank you, Uncle Albert." She leaned into his hand, letting the warm strength lull her to sleep. 

 

 | | | 

 

She only bothered to talk to her parents when they talked to her. She always went immediately for Uncle Albert, with her homework in her backpack. She would invariably find him in the private labs, where she would sit off to the side and do her work. 

He always stopped to help her when she broke their comfortable silence. He was a good teacher. He was so smart. 

Even a little more distanced than when she was little, Uncle Albert always made time for her when she needed him. She spent enough time in his house to have her own room, her own little collection of clothes in her own dresser. When was the last time her parents had used the kitchen to cook?

She found Uncle Albert in the private labs with an experiment, reviewing the progress reports. She hugged him around the neck, receiving his customary forearm squeeze. 

"Good day at school?" His usual question. 

"Alissa made fun of my headband again and I got math homework."

"Do you need help with it?"

"I want to try it on my own first." She let him go and settled on her jacket in a corner of the room with her textbook and workbook. 

Around five, he stood. "Let's go home. Tortellini tonight?"

She closed her books excitedly. "Yeah!"

"Cheese or spinach?"

"Both?" She asked hopefully. 

He nodded, still stern. He was usually serious, but he listened and cared what she liked. She loved him, her Uncle Albert.

 

 | | | 

 

Her panic at feeling it crawl horribly through her body was only abated by Uncle Albert's appearance. 

"He tested on her!" Mom cried out, horrified. 

"Get me the black case." Uncle Albert commanded. "Then get William to a break room and sit him down. He needs to sleep."

Mom scrambled to do as he said, looking nervous to leave him alone with her. 

"Annette, go. You make her nervous."

"Al, she's my baby."

"I've taken care of her for the better part of four years, Annette." Her voice was clipped and edged in poison. "She's safe with me."

Mom gave up and left. 

She didn't remember much of what followed, except that Uncle Albert took off his sunglasses to watch her, and his gentle tones. 

"You'll be fine, Sherry." He reassured right before she passed out.

* * *

She blinks back to the present, at the worn gun in her hand and a daughter of her own beside her. 

"I knew him. Before Raccoon."

Diana snapped her gaze up, surprised. Her father's eyes. Her grandfather's eyes. 

"I was a little girl when I met him. Not even school age." She smiles crookedly. "He took care of me when my parents were too busy, or forgot I was there." 

Diana looks pained. He must have told her stories. 

"Jake won't understand." She says slowly. "But I do. He's a terrible, horrible person who's done unspeakable things. But he cares. It seems like he cares about you in particular."

"He said he didn't know about Dad until the C outbreak." Diana says softly. "He started to watch you both. He didn't think you'd want to see him."

She rotates the gun, looking at the marks and gouges in the metal. 

"I've changed a lot since the last time I seen him." She says, contemplative. "I don't know what I'd feel."

"He just talks to me a lot. Not about what he does or what I do. Just about life. He'd given me gear, too. Some very high-quality gear." She pulls a duffel bag out from under her bed, unzipping it to showcase the leather tack gear and array of knives and rifles, even a multi-shell shotgun. "Says he wants to see me survive."

She meets Diana's waiting gaze. "He saved my life. He cared for me when there was no one else to do it. If he wants to get to know you and you want to understand him, you should. I don't think you should telegraph it, but . . . I've done worse."

Diana looks relieved all at once, more herself than she has been in the past few months. "Thank you."

"His kindness to you and me doesn't wash away what he's done." She feels compelled to warn. "He's a bad person, without question. Don't overlook that."

"Oh, I don't." Diana is quick to reassure. "His war crime record is extensive and varied. I don't tell him anything. But he also doesn't ask. Not once. I think this is just personal, just something for him."

She chuckles. "He never did like people neglecting responsibility. And he is your grandfather."

"What do you think I should do about Dad?"

"I'll work on your father." She pat's her daughter's back. "It's not a good idea to hide it from him, but just blurting it out isn't wise either. We're you going to see him tonight?"

"Yeah." She's sheepish. 

"Only a few hours, okay? I'll let Jake know you've gone out."

Diana hugs her, still shaking from nervousness. "Thank you, Mom." 

"Go on." She kisses Diana's temple. "He's waiting."

* * *

She approaches their regular park to find him sitting quietly at a bench in a black Armani suit and leather gloves. He's wearing his regular blackout shades, but his eyes glow through them anyway. 

"Hey." She says, sitting next to him. Her braid's coming undone.

"Hello, dearheart." He says. "You're later than usual."

"Mom caught me on my way out." She replies. 

He hums. "What did she have to say?"

"She knows. She saw the pistol."

"I knew she would recognize it." He nods. "She was in Raccoon."

"Did you give it to me just for that reason?"

"No. It's a custom weapon with excellent features. A secret weapon is always good to have." He glances over at her. "Sherry's smart, and observant. I trained her to be that way."

"Did you know Raccoon was going to happen?"

"I knew the labs would eventually get compromised. William, your other grandfather, was obsessive over it. It would claim him eventually, and I wanted Sherry to survive."

"Why?"

"She was a sweet girl, and I can only imagine she's a cunning woman." He frowns. "Annette and William were also my friends. I cared for them and their family. Had I been in Raccoon, I would have taken her. As it was, she was safest being prodded and secluded by the government rather than at Umbrella's mercy. That's why I never came for her after. I would have put her in more danger."

They're silent for a while, the autumn winds cool over the little river. 

"Mom said to be careful around you."

"She's a wise woman." He agrees. "I am a dangerous man, no less so for my death."

"How did you get around that?"

"That was a clone, substandard and incomplete." He crosses his legs. "It was Uruboros, so I let it go. Let it kill itself in pursuit of a damaged product. Chris killed it for me and wiped me clean. There's a lot you can get away with as a dead man. I didn't anticipate it abducting Jill, however. By then, it was too late to reveal myself and intervene."

She nods and looks away. 

"My interest in you is one of my own."

She peers at him, questioning. 

"You're my granddaughter. I was unaware of Ivara's pregnancy. She never informed me and our dalliance was a short-lived affair. You're also the daughter of a woman I care very deeply for, that I would have taken as my own, given the chance."

She nods slowly, mulling it over. 

"I have no desire to impose on you."

"I think a grandfather is a good addition to my life." She smirks at him. "Though I highly doubt we'll be fishing by your retirement villa anytime soon."

"A correct assumption." There's a hint of humour in his voice.

"Will I keep running into you on missions?"

"Most likely." He didn't elaborate. 

"That's how it is, I guess." She laid her head on his shoulder. 

"Indeed." He takes her hand and they stay there. 

* * *

He spots her as Diana climbs back into her window and locks it with a small wave. He nods back and walks out of view. The petite blonde appears seconds later. 

"You can just say hi, you know." She says to him. 

He opens his arms and she plasters herself to his front, holding him tightly. "Hello, dearheart."

"Hi, Uncle Albert." 

His heart unclenches in his chest as he holds her. He's missed her. He wishes he hadn't been in the Arklay Mountains when G got loose. He wishes he'd been there to protect her. But perhaps, it's better this way. 

"Are you happy? Are you safe?"

"Yes." She says, holding him tighter. 

"Good." He lays his cheek on the crown of her head. "You have beautiful children."

"I know." She smiles. "I'm very lucky."

"I would like to keep in touch with you, Sherry."

"My phone is bugged, so get me one like you got Diana and I will."

He hums in acquiescence, just holding her. 

Enough time passes like that for it to get considerably colder. 

He releases her. "Go back inside. I'll give Diana the phone when I get it."

"Okay. It was nice to see you, Uncle Albert."

"I'm proud of you, Sherry." He says, taking off his sunglasses. His eyes are red now, glowing like sluggish magma, but they're still sharp and attentive. "I'm very proud of you."

She ducks her head bashfully. His praise is hard to earn, after all. "Thanks. It means a lot to me."

He inclines his head, replaces his sunglasses, and walks off into the night. She hugs herself to ward off the cold even as warmth blooms in her chest. 

Diana's in the living room helping Michael clean their guns when she comes back in. Her daughter gives her a knowing look. 

She just smiles and goes upstairs, into her bedroom. She pulls open her underwear drawer and pulls out the soft shirt that had been in her backpack the day Raccoon went to hell. She'd slept over at his house the night before and just shoved it in her bag on an impulse. The fabric was unbleached grey now and washed threadbare, but she still had it. 

She tucks it away to find Jake leaning against their door. 

"I love you." She tells him. 

Those blue eyes she loves so much crinkle as he smiles. 

 

 

 


End file.
